UN; ORIGIN, DEVELOPMENT AND STRUCTURE.

POLITICAL SCIENCE- II

Submitted by:
SHUBHAM RAJ
ROLL NO. 2013110
SEMESTER II

DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

Visakhapatnam

March 2014
1

CERTIFICATE

Title of the Subject: Political Science

Name of the Faculty: T. Y. Nirmala Devi

Particulars

Date and Signature of the Remarks

Faculty

Abstract
First consultation
Second consultation
Third consultation
final submission

I,

SHUBHAM

and

RAJ,

hereby

declare

that

this

project

titled

UN;

ORIGIN,

DEVELOPMENT AND STRUCTURE submitted by me, as a whole, is original works

undertaken by me. I have duly acknowledged almost all the sources from which the ideas and
extracts have been taken.

(Signature of candidate)
Place: Visakhapatnam

Shubham Raj

Date:

Roll no. 2013110

March, 2014

Semester II
2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Whether it be a small needle or the biggest skyscraper, we need some helping hands in the
making of it, nothing comes out of a solo effort neither did this project work! Which is what
made me obliged to express my deep vow of gratitude towards the subject Professor who gave
me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic U.N., Origin, Development
and Structure, which is a result of a lot of research on it which also, apparently, took me through
a lot of new things that will be helpful for me in my career as well as day to day life. Doing the
project was an experience full of knowledge.
I would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in finishing this project
within the limited time.
Once again, thanks to all who helped me in completing this project work.
Shubham Raj.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE

PAGE NUMBER

CERTIFICATE

02

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

03

INTORDUCTION

05

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

06

UN; ORIGIN

07

UN; DEVELOPMENT

14

UN; STRUCTURE
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
SECURITY COUNCIL
SECRETARIAT
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
SPECIALIZED AGENCIES
MEMBERSHIP

22
22
23
24
25
25
26

CONCLUSION

26

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
ARTICLES
WEBSITES

27
27
28
28

1. INTRODUCTION

United Nations, commonly known as U.N. today, is the largest of all international
organisations in the world. It got its name from President Roosevelt 1 and has its headquarters in
the New York City.2 The United Nations came into existence on 24th October3, 1945 after the
ratification of the charter, made for it, by the several Countries. It originally started with 50
countries as its member and now has over 170 countries under it with the purposes which are- to
keep pace throughout the world, to develop friendly relations among nations, to help nations
work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, to
encourage respect for each others right and freedoms and to be a centre for harmonising the
actions of nations to achieve these goals.
The governmental structure of the United Nations resembles to that of the structural organisation
of the United States. It consists of a General Assembly, a Security council and an Economic
and Social Council.
The General Assembly is the central organ of the United Nations. In this assembly every nation
can speak and be heard on any matter. Here, important questions are decided by a two-third
majority vote where each country has equal weight of the vote.
The Security Council has been designed to be the main guardian of the world peace; it deals with
the questions of peace and security. All its members abide to the decisions made by it.
The Economic and Social Council, for short, is also known as ECOSOC. It is concerned with the
economic problems such as trade, transport, industrialisation and economic development and

1 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known by his initials FDR, was the 32 nd President of the United
States. He served for 12 years and four terms, and was the only president ever to serve more than eight
years.
2 New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan
Area. The city is called The new York City or the city of New York to distinguish it from the State of New
York of which the city is mere a part.
3 This is why the United Nations day is celebrated on 24th October every year.
5

social issues like population, racial discrimination, womens right, children, housing,
environment, food etc,. The council has 54 members who serve for a term of three years.

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1 Aims and objectives
Over the course of this project, the researcher aims to find out the way of the origin of the United
Nations and also will endeavour to identify the integral link between the member countries and
will examine this link to find the causative factors that led to its formation. The researcher will
analyse its development, both at a conceptual level and as it exists in the real world today. The
researcher will also do a general study of the structure of the United Nations keeping in view
also to find its equality with modern form of democracy.
2.2 Scope and limitations
While the origin of the United Nations will be treated holistically and examined in all its myriad
aspects, the analysis of its development and structure will be restricted to the areas mentioned
and discussed.
2.3 Sources of data
The researcher has relied primarily on secondary sources of data in the form of books, journal
and newspaper articles and Internet resources.
2.4 Method of writing
The researcher has followed both a descriptive and analytical style of writing.
2.5 Mode of citation
The Harvard Bluebook Citation Guide has been followed.
3. UN; ORIGIN
The mainstream narrative of the United Nations has long been that its creation in 1945 was an
almost revolutionary act that constituted a seminal answer to the atrocities of World War II and
the Holocaust and must be seen as an unprecedented universal attempt to achieve world peace
6

and guarantee human rights. In this context, the positive accounts on the UNs history in recent
years seem to be due to the New World Order proclaimed by former U.S. President George
H.W. Bush and the intellectual reaction to Goerge W. Bushs unilateralism in order to show that
the UN does matter. Apparently, however, not only historians, also international relations (IR)
scholars failed to appropriately address the complex nature of the ideas and ideologies
constituting the basis of the UN. The British historians Mark Mazower 4 and Dan Plesch5 have
initiated interesting debates about the origins and thus, implicitly, the very nature of the United
Nations organization. Here, two main questions shall guide us: To what extent do we have to
contest the narrative that the creation of the United Nations in 1945 constituted a radical shift in
world history? And secondly, did the UN rather perpetuate colonial ideas or was it, in contrast,
designed to end colonialism?
While Plesch argues that 1942 was the birth date of the United Nations, Mazower observes some
continuity since the early twentieth century and the League of Nations. Both authors approach
the subject quite differently: Dan Plesch provides an archive-based narrative of a UN already
established during the war, and Mazower illustrates the ideological origins of the organization
with the intellectual setting of its leading figures. Mazower looks at specific persons he considers
as key figures: The South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts 6, the English internationalist Sir

4 Mark A. Mazower is a British historian. His expertise is Greece, the Balkans and, more generally, 20th
century Europe. He is currently a professor of history at Columbia University in New York City.
5 Dan Plesch is an associate of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at the School of
Oriental and African Studies, a visiting senior research fellow at Keele University and a senior associate
of the Foreign Policy Centre.
6 Jan Christiaan Smuts, OM, CH, ED, KC, FRS, PC, born on May 24, 1870, was a prominent South
African and British Commonwealth statesman, military leader and philosopher.
7

Alfred Zimmern7, the Jewish emigrants Joseph Schechtman8 and Raphael Lemkin9, and last but
not least the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. In contrast to Mazower, who in
comparison rather tends to neglect the most obvious documents and meetings, Plesch focuses
very much on the Atlantic Charter (1941)10, the talks at Dumbarton Oaks (1944), as well as the
conferences in Yalta and San Francisco (1945) that led finally to the establishment of the United
Nations organization.
According to Plesch, the wartime UN has largely been forgotten, because it needed a new
start in 1945, a UN born out of the ashes of war. The political climate in the United States
changed in the late 1940s, when it had become inopportune to argue that the U.S., the British,
and the Soviets had been planning the UN together. Nonetheless, it was on 28 December 1941
when Roosevelt came up with the idea to use United Nations instead of Associated Powers to
depict the alliance fighting Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, and Japan. Already in early 1942,
Roosevelt and Churchill made military and political plans. While the former were naturally held
as secrets, the political arrangements had a vital public dimension in rallying domestic and
international support for the war effort. The assessment of a contemporary advocate of the UN
supports Pleschs thesis: The Declaration of the United Nations brought the United Nations into

7 Sir Alfred Eckhard Zimmern (1879-1957) was a British classical scholar and historian, and political
scientist writing on international relations
8 Joseph Boris Schechtman was a writer and Revisionist political activist. He was the author of several
books of history, including The Arab Refugee Problem, and a two-volume biography of Vladimir
Jabotinsky, The Life and Times of Vladimar Jabotinsky
9 Raphael Lemkin was a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent, who immigrated to the United States in 1941.
He is best known for his work against genocide, a word he coined in 1944 from the rooted words genos
and cide.
10 The Atlantic Charter was a pivotal policy statement issued in August 1941 that, early in World war II
defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by the leaders of Britain and the United
States, and later agreed to by all the allies. The Charter stated the ideal goals of the war: no territorial
aggrandizement; no territorial changes made against the wishes of the people; restoration of selfgovernment to those deprived of it; free access to raw materials; reduction of trade restrictions; global
cooperation to secure better economic and social conditions for all; freedom from fear and want; freedom
of the seas; and abandonment of the use of force, as well as disarmament of aggressor nations.
8

being.11 After Roosevelt had led political celebrations internationally, The ideas of the
United Nations became embedded in wartime civilian culture, especially in the USA. The
outlook of the wartime United Nations was debated mostly between the U.S., the United
Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. Once, it was accepted, military communiqus and official
statements in the U.S. and Great Britain frequently referred to the United Nations. Plesch stresses
the discussions between Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill with regard to a new post-war world
order, based on the BritishU.S. American Atlantic Charter of 1941. The idea emerged that these
three great powers should, together with China, manage world affairs as the four policemen.
Plesch further regards the focus of wartime United Nations initiatives on the social, economic,
and humanitarian dimensions as proof for the United Nations encompassing approach to global
security and global governance within World War II.
With regard to Pleschs argument that the creation of the UN can be dated back to 1942, we must
ask: Is it appropriate to consider this wartime UN as much more than a public relations
invention to guarantee public support? Some argue that it was rather the success of the
propaganda strategy to label the Allies, led by the U.S., Britain, and the USSR, as United
Nations to support their cause morally12. This was deemed necessary by Roosevelt to convince
the isolationists and the public in the U.S., particularly with regard to the Lend-Lease agreement,
with which the U.S. supported the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, and other Allies
with material. The important question seems to be the level of institutionalization and
perspective beyond the war-related public relations and public diplomacy dimension of the
United Nations notion. And there were institutions: The better known was certainly the UN
Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA, founded in 1943 by forty-four nations), but
also the London-based UN War Crimes Commission (also created in 1943 by seventeen
countries) is worth mentioning. The author emphasizes that as part of the cooperative process
under the United Nations framework, the UN War Crimes Commission and the UN Relief and
11 Michael Straight, a US citizen who served in the Air Force during World War II, then became editor of The New
Republican, but was also a KGB informant, expressed Pleschs main arguments already in 1943: the UN was
founded in 1942 and it should support de-colonisation and human rights. Maybe a Mazower-style analysis of
persons like Straight may have enriched Pleschs book further.

12 Mawdsley, Evan (2012) Book review: America, Hitler and the UN: How the Allies Won World War
II and Forged a Peace.
9

Rehabilitation Administration, both internationally staffed and funded, were up and running in
1943. They began to turn the political rhetoric of the United Nations about the postwar world
into something tangible that the public could relate to. So we could argue that besides the
wartime rhetoric tool, the United Nations also seemed to have been embedded in an institutional
framework.
Another aspect that can be mentioned against the wartime UN is actually presented by the author
himself. Plesch admits that the idea of a general United Nations organization for the coordination
of military and economic matters encountered resistance from the United States, Great Britain,
and the USSR until shortly before the end of the war:
Until late in the war, the idea of making a general organization of the United Nations to
coordinate military and economic affairs was resisted by the Big Three. Roosevelt regarded it as
creating an unnecessary target for his opponents at home and did not publicly endorse the idea
until after D-Day had succeeded. Churchill was more concerned with US-UK bilateral
agreements, and sought to elevate Australia and Canada as auxiliaries of the Empire and arrange
regional rather than global structures. Stalin, having given strong support to the League of
Nations, was now more concerned to secure a territorial buffer zone against further attacks from
Germany.13
So, again, was the tale of the United Nations before 1945 rather a propaganda success story
than the birth of the United Nations Organization? Plesch certainly has a point, although to date
back the UN as we know it to 1942 would be a bit too adventurous. The planning of the United
Nations Organization certainly can be traced back to 1942, but then also the ideas of the League
of Nations must be considered as ideological background for the UN and this is what Mark
Mazower does.
In his introduction, Mazower sharply analyzes the deficiencies and blind spots of existing
accounts on the UNs origins as mixed motivations that had rather been neglected and international cooperation as such taken for granted as something basically positive:
Their guiding assumption seems to be that the emergence of some kind of global community is
not only desirable but inevitable, whether through the acts of states, or non-state actors, or
13 Plesch, Dan (2011) America, Hitler and the UN: How the Allies Won World War II and Forged a
peace.
10

perhaps through the work of international organizations themselves, staffed by impartial and
high-minded civil servants.14
Mazowers main argument is that in contrast to repeated laudations of the UN as the only
authentic world organization with idealistic goals (and, on the other hand, categorical
repudiations and assessments of the overall failure of the United Nations), the UNs origins trace
back to old-fashioned national and great power interests and imperial motives, but then
developed in a different direction as its mostly Western creators had anticipated. Mazower
manages magnificently to exemplify his narrative of the UN as a creature of U.S. global power
ambitions and particularly British colonial interests. He does so by examining the convictions
and motives that drove Jan Smuts and internationalist Sir Alfred Zimmern (both had already
played a significant role in designing the League of Nations) in the UNs establishment,
supplemented by the impact Mazower attributes to the Indian independence hero and first prime
minister Jawaharlal Nehru with regard to the unexpected non-Western orientation.
Mazower challenges two important interpretations of the UNs history: He concludes that the UN
was not so different from the League of Nations and that it was not, as often assumed, a mostly
U.S. American enterprise only15. Both theses are supported by a closer look at the relationship
between empires-with the British Empire in particular-and connected ideas of global order, and
the respective intellectual origin of the League of Nations and the UN. 16 Also, Plesch discusses
briefly Churchills flirt with the idea of an Anglo-Saxon world empire 17. In contrast to other
authors who certainly acknowledge some heritage of the League in the UN, 18 Mazower goes
further and identifies a clear continuity between the two institutions.

14 Mazower, Mark (2009) No Enchanted Palace. The End of Empire and the Ideological Origins of the
United Nations, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
15 Schlesinger, Stephen C. (2003) Act of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations.
16 id
17 id
18 id
11

Mazowers first two chapters deal with Jan Smuts and Alfred Zimmern, with which the author
illustrates the ideological roots of colonialism and the racist belief in the superiority of the white
man as essential aspects of the internationalism that inspired the Leagues foundation. It seems
contradictory that Smuts, who spoke on behalf of equal rights in the UN context, increasingly
followed a more racist line in his South African Apartheid regime. But from a contemporary
reading of internationalism, it was not such a paradox, argues Mazower. Smuts and Zimmern
envisioned the British Commonwealthand then the League as a variation of itas the
institution with which the (white) civilization should be spread throughout the world.
Plesch takes a very different stand on the question whether the UN was a new form of empire.
While World War II historians have long paid little attention to colonial repression, it is obvious
that European colonialism based on the conviction of European supremacy, which also found
expression in the subjugation of AfricanAmericans in the United States. Therefore, in Pleschs
opinion, Roosevelts resolve to apply the Atlantic Charter principles worldwide-including the
right to self-determination-was volatile in colonial nations and in the U.S. itself:
Roosevelts anti-colonial policy did not outlast him and it is not properly acknowledged. The
main achievements were the promotion of an Asian nation, China, to great power status and the
inclusion of India as a separate country in the Declaration of January 1942 and in the wartime
UN conferences.19
In Pleschs view, the missing set-up of a schedule for the end of British and French colonies was
the main lost opportunity, although Roosevelt tried to push it. 20Roosevelt came up with a plan
that envisioned several regional commissions with representatives of the colonizers and the
colonized to deal with the independence process-but it did not convince Churchill. Plesch
concludes that the post-war world would well have been more peaceful and prosperous had this
declaration been pursued as Roosevelt intended and judges Roosevelts declaration as a vision
of the end of empire, which would have included fixed dates.21 At the same time, it meant a
radical shift that China was elevated as one of the four big powers: Back at the time of the
19 id
20 id
21 Supra at 90
12

creation of the League of Nations, the white nations had refused to include language on racial
equality, humiliating delegates from Japan and elsewhere.22 Plesch thus regards Chinas
elevation and the plan for a scheduled end of colonies as the reinforcement of the anti-imperial
origins of the UN and explicitly distances this narrative from Mark Mazowers interpretation of
the UNs ideological basis. However, as Plesch continues, after his death, Roosevelts anticolonial ideas and economic policies to endorse the developing world soon became obsolete
when President Truman took office.23Plesch thus strengthens the argument that the United
Nations was designed to become a major anti-colonial force-unlike Mark Mazower.
Mazowers book questions the all too uncritical Western belief in the UN as a truly universal and
global caretaker that despite a Western dominance at its origins pursued international goals for
the best of all. Mazower presents how this belief was anchored in a perpetuated civilizing
mission of the colonial powers and now also the United States. It was then Jawaharlal Nehru and
increasing anti-colonialism that challenged the UNs colonial heritageto the surprise of the
Western powers. Nehru turned the UN into an anticolonial forum that nevertheless then
converted into a defender of national sovereignty again. Here one of the decisive differences
between the league and the UN comes into play: The UN gave the great powers much more
say, even a de-facto veto right, so all rhetoric praise of human rights protection, for instance,
seemed in reality nothing more than lip service as these big countries did not imagine to be
subject to any meddling in their domestic affairs. This sacrosanct principle of sovereignty then
became important again and was revived with the entry of all the newly independent countries
that turned the UN-at least the General Assembly-into a Third World forum rather than a great
power concert.
While the Eleanor-Roosevelt narrative that human rights at the UN were mainly a consequence
of the war cruelties and the Holocaust in particular, has already been appropriately demystified, 24
both authors shed some new light on the issue. Mazower looks at two Jewish emigrants, Raphael
Lemkin and Joseph Schechtman, and thereby shows the transition from the leagues minority
22 Supra at 89
23 Plesch 2011: at 91
24 Normand, Roger and Sarah Zaidi (2008) Human Rights at the UN.
13

rights system to the rather loosely defined right of self-determination of peoples in the UN.
While Mazower convincingly illustrates the role of these activists in the making of universal
rights, Plesch demonstrates that the United Nations War Criminals Commission 25 (UNWCC,
created in 1943) merits more attention and could possibly be seen as more important than even
the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials on the way to the establishment of the International Criminal
Court. He describes the UNWCC as the main legal response to Nazi crimes during the war that
laid the groundwork for the Nuremberg trials. It further implicitly seems to prove that the Allies
were aware of the Holocaust.26 UNWCC, with a secretariat in London, was promoted mostly by
smaller countries that had been invaded by Germany, as well as by civil society and some
principled officials from the U.S. and British governments but less so by the great powers. 27
Here, Mazower is more skeptical about the troubled history of UNWCC as it seemed unlikely
that the great powers would promote an international criminal law.
In conclusion, while Plesch argues that the UN was planned already in 1942, Mazower would

28

identify its ideological roots in the League of Nations and the British desire to perpetuate empire.
Thus, Mazower argues that the UNs creation stood for a continuation of colonialism by other
means that ended surprisingly with the action taken by Nehru and his allies later on. In contrast,
Plesch interprets the UN as designed to terminate colonialism and eventually only Roosevelts
death prevented it to set exact dates to end empire.
4. UN; DEVELOPMENT

25The United Nations War Crime Commission is part of the broader work on UN History for
the Future being conducted in conjunction with the Ralph Bunche Centre for International
Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The War Crimes and
Human Rights project is in partnership with the Wiener Library for Holocaust and Genocide
Studies and the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies at London University.

26 The Jewish Chronicle, 2011

27 Supra at101, 102 and 116
28 Supra at 127
14

The United Nations Charter is the treaty that established the United Nations. The following series
of events led to the writing of the Charter, the UN's founding and the further developments, till
now.
On June 12th, 1941 the inter-Allied Declaration was signed in London which was the first step
towards the establishment of the United Nations with a motto To work together, with other
peoples, both in war and peace. On 14 August 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the
United States and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom proposed a set of
principles for international collaboration in maintaining peace and security. The document,
signed during a meeting on the ship H.M.S. Prince of Wales, "somewhere at sea", is known as
the Atlantic Charter.29 On 1 January 1942, representatives of 26 Allied nations fighting against
the Axis Powers met in Washington, D.C. to pledge their support for the Atlantic Charter by
signing the "Declaration by United Nations30". This document contained the first official use of
the term "United Nations", which was suggested by President Roosevelt.
In a declaration signed in Moscow31 on 30 October 1943, the Governments of the Soviet Union,
the United Kingdom, the United States and China called for an early establishment of an
international organization to maintain peace and security. That goal was reaffirmed at the
meeting of the leaders of the United States, the USSR, and the United Kingdom at Teheran on 1
December 1943. The first blueprint of the UN was prepared at a conference held at a mansion
known as Dumbarton Oaks32 in Washington, D.C. During two phases of meetings which ran from
29History of United Nations, the Atlantic Charter available at
http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/atlantic_charter.shtml last visited on 3rd January, 2014 at 09:30
AM.
30 History of United Nations, Declaration by United nations; available at
http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/declaration.shtml last visited on 3rd January, 2014 at 09:42 AM
31 History of United Nations; Moscow and Tehran conferences available at
http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/moscowteheran.shtml last visited on 3rd January, at 09:58 AM
32
History
of
United
Nations,
Dumbarton
oaks
and
Yalta
available
http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/dumbarton_yalta.shtml last visited on 3rd January,2014 at 10:05 AM

at

15

21 September through 7 October 1944, the United States, the United Kingdom, the USSR and
China agreed on the aims, structure and functioning of a world organization.
On 11 February 1945, following meetings at Yalta33, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister
Churchill and Premier Joseph Stalin declared their resolve to establish "a general international
organization to maintain peace and security" widely known as Yalta Conference. On 25 April
1945, delegates of 50 nations met in San Francisco34 for the United Nations Conference on
International Organization. The delegates drew up the 111-article Charter, which was adopted
unanimously on 25 June 1945 in the San Francisco Opera House. The next day, they signed it in
the Herbst Theatre auditorium of the Veterans War Memorial Building.
Forty-five nations, including the four sponsors, were originally invited to the San Francisco
Conference: nations which had declared war on Germany and Japan and had subscribed to
the United Nations Declaration35. In 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco
at the United Nations Conference on International Organization 36 to draw up the United Nations
Charter. Those delegates deliberated on the basis of proposals worked out by the representatives
of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States at Dumbarton Oaks,
United States in August-October 1944. The Charter was signed on 26 June 1945 by the
representatives of the 50 countries. Poland, which was not represented at the Conference, signed
it later and became one of the original 51 Member States.
The United Nations officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the Charter had
been ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and by
a majority of other signatories. United Nations Day is celebrated on 24 October each year.
33id
34 History of United Nations, san Francisco Conference available at
http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/sanfrancisco_conference.shtml last visited on 3rd January, at
10:15 AM.
35 History of United Nations, Declaration by United Nations available at
http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/declaration.shtml last visited on 3rd January, at 10:15 AM.
36
16

On 10th January 1946 the first General Assembly, with 51 nations represented opens in Central
Hall, Westminster, London, on 17 January 1946 Security Council met for the first time in
London, adopting its rules of procedure. On 24 January 1946 General Assembly adopts its first
resolution.37 Its main focus: peaceful uses of atomic energy and the elimination of atomic and
other weapons of mass destruction. On 1 February 1946 Trygve Lie38 of Norway became first
Secretary-General. And on 24 October 1947 United Nations Day" was officially designated by
the General Assembly.
In May 1948 United Nations Troop Supervision Organization (UNTSO) was the first
peacekeeping operation established by the United Nations. On 10th December 1948 General
Assembly adopts Universal Declaration of Human Rights.39 On 7th January 1949 A UN envoy,
Ralph Bunche40 secures cease-fire between the new State of Israel and Arab States.
On 24th October 1949 Cornerstone41 laid for present UN Headquarters in New York City. On 27th
June 1950 Security Council, acting in the absence of the Soviet Union, calls on Member States to
help southern part of Korea repel invasion from the north. The Korean Armistice Agreement is
signed on 27 July 1953 by the UN Command and the Chinese-North Korean Command. 42 On 7th
37
38 Trygve Halvdan Lie was a Norwegian politician, labour leader, government official and author. He
served as Norwegian Foreign minister during the critical years of the Norwegian government in exile in
London from 1940 to 1945.
39 http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
40 Ralph J. Bunche was an American political scientist, academic, and diplomat who received the 1950
Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Palestine
41The cornerstone (or foundation stone) concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of
a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus
determining the position of the entire structure.
42 http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/1941-1950.shtml
17

April 1953 The General Assembly nominates Dag Hammarskjld43 as Secretary General of the
United Nations. In 1954 the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 44 won the first of two Nobel
Peace Prizes, for its work with European refugees. On 7th November 1956 the First Emergency
Special Session of the General Assembly met on the Suez Canal crisis and, on 5 November,
decides to establish the first UN peace-keeping force- the UN Emergency Force (UNEF).45 In
September 1960, 17 newly independent States, 16 from Africa, joined the UN -the biggest
increase in membership in any one year.46 In November 1961 The General Assembly
nominates U Thant47 as Secretary General of the United Nations. In 1965 UNICEF, the United
Nations Children's Fund, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1965.
On 16th December 1966, The Security Council impose mandatory sanctions against Rhodesia
(now Zimbabwe)
On 22nd November 1967 Following the six-day war in 1967, the Security Council, after lengthy
negotiations, adopted resolution 242 (1967), as the basis for achieving peace in the Middle East.
On 12th June 1968 General Assembly approved the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons48 and called for its ratification.
43 Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjld was a Swedish diplomat, economist, and author. The second
Secretary-General of the United Nations, he served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in
September 1961 in the same year He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, posthumously.
44 United Nations and Nobel Peace Prize available at
http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/nobelprize/1954/index.shtml last visited on 4th January, at 11:18 AM.
45 Completed peace keeping operations; First United Nations Emergency Force available at
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unefi.html last visited on 3rd January, at 02:12 PM.
46 History of United Nations available at http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/history/1951-1960.shtml last
visited on 4th January, at 03:15 PM.
47 U Thant was a Burmese diplomat and served as the third Secretary-General of the United Nations,
from 1961 to 1971. He was chosen for the post when his predecessor, Dag Hammarskjld, died in
September 1961.
48 The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation
Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and
18

In January 1969 the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination came into force. In 1969 The International Labour Organization (ILO) was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1969.49 And in the year 1969 The International Labour
Organization (ILO) is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1969.50 On 25th October 1971 The
General Assembly votes to seat representatives of the People's Republic of China. On 22nd
December 1971 The General Assembly nominated Kurt Waldheim51 as Secretary General of the
United Nations. In June 1972, the first UN Environment Conference was held in Stockholm,
Sweden, leading to the establishment of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP),
headquartered in Nairobi. On 13th November 1974 The General Assembly recognised the
Palestine Liberation Organization as "the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian
people".
In June - July 1975 International Women's Year was marked by the first World Conference on
Women,52 held in Mexico City. On 4th November 1977 The Security Council adopted mandatory
arms embargo against South Africa. On May - June 1978 the General Assembly convened, for
the first time, a special session on disarmament.
18 December 1979 The General Assembly adopts the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women 53, covering political, economic, social, cultural and
civic values.

weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal
of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament
49 id
50 id
51 Kurt Josef Waldheim was an Austrian diplomat and politician. Waldheim was the fourth SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981, and the ninth President of Austria, from 1986 to 1992.
52 UN Women; United Nations Entity for Gender equality and the empowerment of women available at
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/followup/session/presskit/hist.htm last viewed on 7th January, 2014
at 11:13 AM
19

On 8th May 1980 Three years after the last case was reported, the World Health Organization
(WHO) officially declared smallpox eradicated54. In 1981 UN High Commissioner for
Refugees was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the second time, for its assistance to Asian
refugees. On 25th November 1981, General Assembly adopts Declaration on the Elimination of
All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. On 10th December
1982, New UN Convention on the Law of the Sea was signed by 117 States and two entities- the
largest number of signatures ever affixed to a treaty on its first day. In December 1984 General
Assembly adopted the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment. In July 1985 Thousands gathered in Nairobi to attend the World
Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the UN Decade for Women, marking
the end of the UN Decade for Women. In September 1987 Efforts of UNEP55 lead to the signing
of the Treaty on the Protection of the Ozone Layer, known as the Montreal Protocol -a follow-up
to the 1985 Vienna Convention on the Ozone Layer. In 1988 United Nations Peacekeeping
Forces were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At the time there were seven peacekeeping or
observer missions in operation. In April 1989 the UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) is
deployed throughout Namibia to monitor South Africa's withdrawal and provide electoral
assistance.
Elections were held in November 1989; Namibia became independent on 21st March 1990. On
2nd September 1990 Convention on the Rights of the Child comes into force. On 29 - 30

53 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),
adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, is often described as an international bill of rights for
women. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it defines what constitutes discrimination against
women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.
54 id
55 The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is an agency of the UN that coordinates United
Nations environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound
policies and practices. It was founded as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment in June 1972 and has its headquarters in the Gigiri neighbourhood of Nairobi, Kenya. UNEP
also has six regional offices and various country offices.
20

September 1990, UNICEF convened the World Summit for Children, attended by 71 Heads of
State and Government. A Plan of Action was adopted.56
On 31st May 1991 A cease-fire in the 16-year civil war in Angola was negotiated, then
administered by the UN Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM II)57. On 3rd December 1991
Boutros Boutros-Ghali58 was appointed Secretary-General of the United Nations by the UN
General Assembly, after recommendation of the Security Council.
In June 1992 The UN Conference on Environment and Development, the "Earth Summit", was
held in Rio De Janeiro attended by leaders from over 100 countries, the largest
intergovernmental gathering in history, resulting in Agenda 21, a plan of action for sustainable
development. In 1993 Eritrean independence was declared on 27 April, 1993 as a result of a
referendum held with UN verification, with more than 98.5% of registered voters voting. Eritrea
was subsequently admitted to membership in the United Nations and the Organization of African
Unity. In June 1993 the World Conference on Human Rights was held in Vienna, which
commemorated the International Year for the World's Indigenous People 59 (1993). On 6th May
1994 The Secretary-General produces a report on "An Agenda for Development", a blueprint for
improving the human condition. On 23rd June 1994 Elections are held in South Africa from 26 to
29 April, observed by 2,527 staff of the United Nations Observer Mission in South Africa
(UNOMSA) deployed around the country. On 25 May, the Security Council lifted the arms
56 id
57 The United Nations Angola Verification Mission II (UNAVEM II), established May 1991 and lasting
until February 1995, was the second United Nations peacekeeping mission, of a total of four, deployed
to Angola during the course of the Angolan Civil War, the longest war in modern African history.
58 Boutros Boutros-Ghali is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the sixth Secretary-General of
the United Nations from January 1992 to December 1996
59 The International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is observed on August 9 each
year to promote and protect the rights of the worlds indigenous population. This event also
recognizes the achievements and contributions that indigenous people make to improve
world issues such as environmental protection. It was first pronounced by the General
Assembly of the United Nations in December 1994, marking the day of the first meeting of
the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub commission on the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights, in 1982.

21

embargo and other restrictions against South Africa. On 23 June, after 24 years, South Africa
took its place once again in the General Assembly.
1995 A worldwide, year-long programme of activities and celebrations marked the Fiftieth
Anniversary of the United Nations. The theme of the anniversary was "We the peoples of the
United Nations...United for a Better World". Also the Fourth World Conference on Women met
in Beijing to continue international efforts to advance the status of women worldwide. On 22-24
October 1995 a special commemorative meeting attended by Heads of State and Government
was held at Headquarters culminating the observance of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United
Nations.
On 10th September 1996 The General Assembly adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban
Treaty.60 This is a turning point in the history of efforts towards nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation. The treaty was opened for signature on 24 September. On 17th December 1996 The
General Assembly appoints by acclamation Kofi Annan61, of Ghana, as the seventh United
Nations Secretary-General with a term begining on 1 January 1997 and ending 31 December
2001.62
From 25-27 June 2001, during the course of the 26th special session of the General Assembly,
the Member States adopted the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. On 12th December
2001 The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the UN and to Secretary- General Kofi Annan for
"their efforts in favor of a better organized and more peaceful world". On 1822 March 2002 The
International Conference on Financing for Development is held in Monterrey (Mexico). The
Member States adopt the Monterrey Consensus.63

60 The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty by which states agree to
ban all nuclearexplosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes. It was adopted by
the United Nations General Assemblyon 10 September 1996 but it has not entered into force due to the
non-ratification of eight specific states.
61 Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United
Nations, from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006
62 id
22

1 July 2002 The International Criminal Court (ICC) was made the first permanent treaty based
international criminal court established to promote precedence of rule of law and to help end
impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international
community. The Rome Statute, the legal basis for establishing the International Criminal Court,
was adopted on July 17 1998 by 120 countries participating in the United Nations Diplomatic
Plenipotentiary Conference on the establishment of an International Criminal Court. On 26
August 4 September 2002 The Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg 2002)
recommends a series of measures to reduce poverty and to protect the environment.
On 1012 December 2003 The First Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society

64

(WSIS) was held in Geneva. On 13th April 2005 The General Assembly adopted the International
Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism. On 8th March 2005 On the
occasion of the Special Session on Children, Member States adopt a Declaration on Human
Cloning.
On 7 October 2005, the Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize to the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Mohamed El Baradei, for efforts in
preventing military use of atomic energy and work in favour of a peaceful use of this type of
energy. On 20th December 2005 The General Assembly of the UN creates the Peacebuilding
Commission to help countries emerging from conflict to achieve a sustainable peace. On 15th
March 2006 The General Assembly established the Human Rights Council. Its main purpose is
to address situations of human rights violations and to provide recommendations. On 13th
October 2006, the General Assembly nominated Ban Ki-moon65 as Secretary General of the

63 The Monterrey Consensus was the outcome of the 2002 Monterrey Conference, the United
Nations International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico. It was adopted by
Heads of State and Government on 22 March 2002.
64 WSIS was a pair of United Nations-sponsored conferences about information, communication and, in
broad terms, the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis.
65 Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi
Annan in 2007. Before becoming Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations.
23

United Nations. On July 2, 2010 the General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations
entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women.66
In June 2012 The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), was held in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from the 20th through the 22nd of June 2012 in order to agree on new
policies aimed at promoting global economic development and environmental protection. At the
conclusion of the conference UN member states adopted the final document of Rio+20, "The
Future We Want."
On 11th October 2013 The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the Organisation for the Prohibition
of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for its silent but useful work to contribute to peace in the world.67
5. UN; STRUCTURE
The United Nations' system is based on five principal organs: the General Assembly, the Security
Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Secretariat, and the International
Court of Justice.68 A sixth principal organ, the Trusteeship Council, suspended operations in
1994, upon the independence of Palau, the last remaining UN trustee territory. Four of the five
principal organs are located at the main UN Headquarters in New York City. The International
Court of Justice is located in The Hague, while other major agencies are based in the UN offices
at Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi. Other UN institutions are located throughout the world. The
six official languages of the United Nations, used in intergovernmental meetings and documents,
are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. 69 On the basis of the Convention on
the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations,70 the UN and its agencies are immune from
66 id
67 id
68United Nations available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations last visited on 6th January, at
10:15 AM.
69 id
70 The Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations, passed by the United
Nations General Assembly on 13 February 1946 in New York, and sometimes referred to as the "New
24

the laws of the countries where they operate, safeguarding the UN's impartiality with regard to
the host and member countries. Below the six organs sit, in the words of author Linda Fasulo, "an
amazing collection of entities and organizations, some of which are actually older than the UN
itself and operate with almost complete independence from it". 71 These include specialised
agencies, research and training institutions, programmes and funds, and other UN entities.
General Assembly:
The General Assembly is the main deliberative assembly of the United Nations. Composed of
all United Nations member states, the assembly meets in regular yearly sessions, but emergency
sessions can also be called.72 The assembly is led by a president, elected from among the member
states on a rotating regional basis, and 21 vice-presidents. The first session was convened on
10 January 1946 in the Methodist Central Hall Westminster in London and included
representatives of 51 nations
When the General Assembly votes on important questions, a two-thirds majority of those present
and voting is required. Examples of important questions include recommendations on peace and
security; election of members to organs; admission, suspension, and expulsion of members; and
budgetary matters. All other questions are decided by majority vote. Each member country has
one vote. Apart from approval of budgetary matters, resolutions are not binding on the members.
The Assembly may make recommendations on any matters within the scope of the UN, except
matters of peace and security that are under Security Council consideration. Draft resolutions can
be forwarded to the General Assembly by eight committees.73

York Convention",
71 id
72 id
73 id
25

Security Council:
The Security Council is charged with maintaining peace and security among countries. While
other organs of the United Nations can only make "recommendations" to member states, the
Security Council has the power to make binding decisions that member states have agreed to
carry out, under the terms of Charter Article 25.74 The decisions of the Council are known
as United Nations Security Council resolutions.75
The Security Council is made up of 15 member states, consisting of 5 permanent membersChina, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States and 10 non-permanent
members. As of November 2013, these are Argentina (term ends 2014), Australia (2014),
Azerbaijan (2013), Guatemala (2013), Luxembourg (2014), Morocco (2013), Pakistan (2013),
Republic of Korea (2014), Rwanda (2014), and Togo (2013). The five permanent members
hold veto power76 over substantive but not procedural resolutions, allowing a permanent member
to block adoption of a resolution but not debate. The ten temporary seats are held for two-year
terms, with member states voted in by the General Assembly on a regional basis.77 The
presidency of the Security Council rotates alphabetically each month
Secretariat:
The UN Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, assisted by a staff of international civil
servants worldwide.[61] It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by United Nations

74 id
75 A United Nations Security Council resolution is a UN resolution adopted by the fifteen members of
the Security Council; the UN body charged with "primary responsibility for the maintenance of
international peace and security".
76 The United Nations Security Council "power of veto" refers to the veto power wielded solely by the
five permanent members of the United Nations enabling them to prevent the adoption of any
"substantive" draft Council resolution, regardless of the level of international support for the draft
77 id
26

bodies for their meetings. It also carries out tasks as directed by the Security Council, the
General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and other UN bodies.
The Secretary-General acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the UN. The position is
defined in the UN Charter as the organisation's "chief administrative officer". 78 Article 99 of the
charter states that the Secretary-General can bring to the Security Council's attention "any matter
which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security", a phrase
that Secretaries-General since Trygve Lie have interpreted as giving the position broad scope for
action on the world stage. The office has evolved into a dual role of an administrator of the UN
organisation and a diplomat and mediator addressing disputes between member states and
finding consensus to global issues.
The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly, after being recommended by the
Security Council, where the permanent members have veto power. There are no specific criteria
for the post, but over the years, it has become accepted that the post shall be held for one or two
terms of five years, that the post shall be appointed on the basis of geographical rotation, and that
the Secretary-General shall not originate from one of the five permanent Security Council
member states.79 The current Secretary-General is Ban Ki-moon, who replaced Kofi Annan in
2007 and was elected for a second term to conclude at the end of 2016.
International Court of Justice:
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), located in The Hague, Netherlands, is the primary
judicial organ of the UN. Established in 1945 by the UN Charter, the Court began work in 1946
as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The ICJ is composed of
15 judges who serve 9-year terms and are appointed by the General Assembly; every sitting
judge must be from a different nation.
It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, sharing the building with the Hague Academy of
International Law, a private centre for the study of international law. The ICJ's primary purpose
78 id
79 id
27

is to adjudicate disputes among states. The court has heard cases related to war crimes, illegal
state interference, ethnic cleansing, and other issues.80 The ICJ can also be called upon by other
UN organs to provide advisory opinions.
Economic and Social Council:
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) assists the General Assembly in promoting
international economic and social co-operation and development. ECOSOC has 54 members,
which are elected by the General Assembly for a three-year term. The president is elected for a
one-year term and chosen amongst the small or middle powers represented on ECOSOC. The
council has one annual meeting in July, held in either New York or Geneva. Viewed as separate
from the specialised bodies it coordinates, ECOSOC's functions include information gathering,
advising member nations, and making recommendations. Owing to its broad mandate of
coordinating many agencies, ECOSOC has at times been criticised as unfocused or irrelevant.
ECOSOC's subsidiary bodies include the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues, which advises UN agencies on issues relating to indigenous peoples; the United Nations
Forum on Forests, which coordinates and promotes sustainable forest management; the United
Nations Statistical Commission, which coordinates information-gathering efforts between
agencies; and the Commission on Sustainable Development, which coordinates efforts between
UN agencies and NGOs working toward sustainable development. ECOSOC may also grant
consultative status to non-governmental organizations; by 2004, more than 2,200 organisations
had received this status.
Specialized agencies
The UN Charter stipulates that each primary organ of the UN can establish various specialised
agencies to fulfil its duties.81 Some of the best-known agencies are the International Atomic
Energy Agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, UNESCO (United Nations Educational,
Scientific

and

Cultural

Organization),

the World

Bank,

and

the World

Health

80 id
81 id
28

Organization (WHO). The UN performs most of its humanitarian work through these agencies.
Examples include mass vaccination programmes (through WHO), the avoidance of famine and
malnutrition (through the work of the WFP), and the protection of vulnerable and displaced
people (for example, by UNHCR).
Membership:
With the addition of South Sudan on 14 July 2011, there are 193 United Nations member states,
including all undisputed independent states apart from Vatican City. The UN Charter outlines the
rules for membership:
Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states that accept the
obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able
and willing to carry out these obligations. The admission of any such state to membership in the
United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation
of the Security Council. Chapter II, Article 482. In addition, there are two non-member observer
states of the United Nations General Assembly: the Holy See (which holds sovereignty over
Vatican City) and the State of Palestine. The Cook Islands and Niue, both states in free
association with New Zealand, are full members of several UN specialised agencies and have
had their "full treaty-making capacity" recognised by the Secretariat
CONCLUSION:
Since its inception, there have been many calls for reform of the United Nations. However, in
recent years especially with the new millennium calls have increased from nations and civil
society alike that UN reform is necessary for its survival. Clearly, some reforms would require a
change in the UN Charter. For some nations, such as the Permanent Five in the Security Council,
even proposed additions to permanent UNSC membership are hotly debated. For others in civil
society, the issue is that "rearranging the furniture" already in the house is nowhere near the kind
of reform really required by the UN.
Conceptually,

some NGOs frame

the

issue

whether

the

UN

should

be

the

premier intergovernmental association or the preeminent international peace organization. That

question addresses whether the UN should exist for the benefit of the members states and their
82 id
29

national interests, or, with the growth of non-state actors in contemporary international affairs,
whether civil society at large, seen transnationally, is ultimately whom the UN should represent
and protect. If the answer is the latter, that the UN should focus on peace and not the needs
of nation-states per se, then its structure should change significantly to match the reality of a
changing world in which peace and security are multidimensional, with increasing input from
non-state actors as well as from traditional nation-states.
In this view, if the UN cannot reform in the direction of securing peace under contemporary
conditions, it eventually could be superseded by an entity that adapts itself appropriately to the
times and pursues comprehensive global peace, inclusive of non-state actors, in particular,
incorporating the religious dimension. Only this way, proponents say, can peace be secured for
succeeding generations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books:
Amrith, Sunil and Glenda Sluga (2008) New Histories of the United Nations, Journal of World
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Iriye, Akira (2002) Global Community. The Role of International Organizations in the Making of
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Kennedy, Paul (2006) The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present and Future of the United
Nations, New York: Vintage Books.
MacKenzie, David (2010), A World Beyond Borders: An Introduction To The History Of
International Organization, Toronto; University of Toronto Press
Mawdsley, Evan (2012) Book review: America, Hitler and the UN: How the Allies Won World
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Mazower, Mark (2009) No Enchanted Palace. The End of Empire and the Ideological Origins of
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30

Normand, Roger and Sarah Zaidi (2008) Human Rights at the UN. The Political History of
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Plesch, Dan (2011) America, Hitler and the UN: How the Allies Won World War II and Forged A
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